Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are fatty acids that are important to human health but cannot be constructed within the human body and therefore must be obtained by diet. Most omega-3 EFAs come from marine and plant sources. Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) come primarily from marine sources, such as cold-water fishes, for example, salmon. Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) comes primarily from plant sources, such as nuts, seeds, or vegetables.
Most people, especially North Americans, do not consume enough omega-3 EFAs to meet their daily nutritional needs. And in addition to consuming enough omega-3 EFAs, the ratio of omega-3 EFAs to omega-6 EFAs consumed is also important. Desirable ratios of omega-3 to omega-6 are in the 1:1 to 1:5 range. However, many food products such as milk and other dairy products contain omega-3 to omega-6 ratios of 1:5 or higher. North American diets as a result are typically too heavily weighted to omega-6 EFAs, which may contribute to a number of health problems including heart disease.
Various foods have been enriched with omega-3 EFAs, such as bread, eggs and milk. Flaxseed is the most common source for omega-3 EFA enrichment since it is comparatively better tasting than marine sources of omega-3 EFAs. Most people find a fishy taste in non-fish foods unpleasant. But while flax is high in ALA, it is not as rich in DHA and EPA. Evidence has shown that greater health benefits come from the consumption of DHA and EPA than from the consumption of ALA. Nevertheless, marine-sourced omega-3 EFA enrichment of foods, for example meat products, has not been successful due to the poor taste of the enriched food product, as well as due to negative effects on the texture, colour, aroma, pH and shelf life of the enriched food product.
Selenium is a mineral that is also important to human and animal diets as a component of the antioxidant enzyme system. In particular, selenium is a component of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase which neutralizes toxic peroxides that are formed during the conversion of body fat to energy. Absent neutralization, these peroxides can damage cell components and cause a range of health problems, including cancer. Selenium is also a component of more than 20 other functional proteins in the body, most of which have some type of protective function.
Many humans are deficient in selenium, to a large extent because the majority of livestock feed grains and soybeans are being grown in regions where the soil is low in selenium. This causes selenium deficiencies in the animals consuming the feed and consequently in humans consuming the animal products.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improvements in enriched food products.